


The Fighter

by ceciliasheplin



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Alien Abduction, Alien/Human Relationships, Aliens, Alternate Universe - Aliens, Alternate Universe - Post-Apocalypse, Angst, Domestic Fluff, Drug Addiction, Drug Use, Drugs, F/M, Feral Human!Rey, Fluff, Gunshot Wounds, Happy Ending, Homelessness, Hurt/Comfort, Injury, Interspecies Romance, Loss of Virginity, Minor mention of attempted assault, Monstober, Near Death, No Pregnancy, Past Child Abandonment, Pleasure-focused sex, Poverty, Size Difference, Slow Burn, Smut, Soft Big Alien!Kylo, Theme-typical hopelessness and mood, Visions, minor theft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-11
Updated: 2020-11-19
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:01:16
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 12,615
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26939302
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ceciliasheplin/pseuds/ceciliasheplin
Summary: For Monstober Day 10 | AliensPost apocalyptic Alien AU.Rey is a homeless human who crosses path with an alien named Kylo when he finds her sleeping in his shed.
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 208
Kudos: 267
Collections: Monstober2020





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Think Mad Max meets Blade Runner meets District 9 meets this cute little short from Pixar called [Kitbull](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZS5cgybKcI). This one makes me sob! If you haven't seen it, go watch it now!
> 
> Please read the tags and if there's anything I missed, feel free to tell me.
> 
> A big thank you to [MissCoppelia](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissCoppelia/pseuds/MissCoppelia) for the beta read and to [ arroways](https://archiveofourown.org/users/arroways) for the gorgeous moodboard.  
> Manip by me.
> 
> Updates once a week.
> 
> This one is a downer. Happy ending tho!

### 

### Prologue

Fifteen years ago, the aliens came. For five long years there was a war between humans and aliens. The war destroyed the world, killing all plants and animals. The aliens were victorious but the losses on both sides were too great. The aliens only stayed because they couldn’t leave.

Society was restructured into a violent, lawless system. There is no more government and the big corporations control all the resources. Only credits matter.

Survivors from both sides inhabit the ruined cities, and relations between humans and aliens are tense. It’s a fragile coexistence, since they’re all too busy trying to survive.

### ***

Rey braces herself as she’s walking down the street. In her backpack, there’s all that she owns and she worries the remaining credits in her hand inside the pocket of her jacket.

She stomps her feet on the ground to fight the angry, stubborn tears from coming out.

_Stupid, stupid._

A childhood in the orphanage and an early youth of scavenging to survive should have taught her to keep one eye open. A scrawny young woman alone is already an easy target on the best of days, but sleeping in the streets is almost suicide.

Those disgusting men were able to sneak up on her. She shivers violently with the thought of what could have happened to her if she hadn’t been so good at fighting.

Now, she has to change her scenery, they’ll be on the lookout for her.

Her search for another job has been as fruitless as looking for a place in the shelters; they’re all full.

Rey wanders through the city aimlessly until it gets dark. The dust stirred up by the passing speeders makes her cough.

She considers briefly going back to Plutt and beg him to let her have her bed back, but she knows he’s already rented it to someone who can pay him every week. Someone sober, maybe. Although Rey doesn’t know anyone who doesn’t use. Anyone who’s not human, anyway.

She passes by one of the aliens. The alien woman is tall and lithe, with bluish grey skin. Rey’s gaze lingers until the alien woman’s yellow, feline eyes dart to her, and Rey bows her head and walks away before she gets into trouble.

Rey doesn’t hate the aliens like she should. She had been only a child during the war. If anything, she hates her own kind, especially the men who are always the ones who do the hurting.

But she knows better than to get close. The truce is fragile and tenuous. And neither species lets the other step out of line.

She keeps walking.

There’s a Spice dealer at the corner of one intersection. She can tell by the kind of gun he has and the way he’s confidently just standing there, waiting for his next customer. They’re all the same.

A familiar shiver runs up her spine. She’ll need to use soon, but she’s got more urgent problems to deal with at the moment, like a place to spend the night.

On the walls there's graffiti of a symbol of an orange bird cutout from a round shape; its wings taper to the top joined by three feathers. The text below reads ‘Join The Resistance’.

Rey scoffs. Bunch of lunatics. The world is dead, there are no places left to go but the cities which are the only way to get water and synthetic food. How would they survive out there? It’s wishful thinking, and dangerous. And how is this delusion any different from the Spice she takes?

She’s in a part of town where a few of the old houses still stand, having miraculously survived the bombings. The neighbourhood is not the poorest but they’re still just simple houses and not the rich high rise buildings in downtown.

She looks between the wooden fence of one of them. The backyard looks empty.

She spots a shed and her pulse quickens.

 _Perfect_.

Nimbly climbing the fence, Rey lands on her feet and quickly makes her way to the door of the shed, shrouded by the twilight that has already set in the city.

The door is unlocked and she inwardly celebrates, getting in swiftly and closing the door behind her. She lets her eyes get used to the darkness and she can see a few tools and cleaning products, all covered in dust. Even better, it means no one uses this shed. At least she hopes they don’t, but she can count on luck to give her one night, right?

She sighs, very happy with herself. She puts her backpack down and opens it. She quickly changes clothes and tucks her money in the outside pocket, fluffing the bag into a shape that’s more or less like a pillow.

She lies down on the floor with her head on her makeshift pillow and falls asleep almost immediately.

***

She’s jolted out of her dreamless sleep by the sound of the door flying open. Disoriented, she gasps and covers her eyes from the blinding light.

A dark figure looms over her, its huge frame casts a shadow that’s big enough to swallow her completely.

Panic attacks her senses as her eyes get used to the light.

It’s one of the aliens.

Terrified, she scrambles to her feet and backs away until her body hits the wall.

He has bluish grey skin and golden eyes like all aliens, but this one is bigger than the others. He is huge and muscular. She knows he’ll kill her.

A low growl rumbles through the air and it makes all the hair on her skin stand up.

He takes a few steps into the shed and she screams in terror. Rushing past him, she bolts out the door, running across the backyard, and climbing the fence as fast as she can.

Her knees complain as she lands on the other side. She runs and runs until her lungs are heaving and has to slow down.

It isn’t until she has to stop for air that she realizes she left her backpack with all her credits back in the shed.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey goes back to Kylo's house.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tags have been updated just to be more specific but no major changes.
> 
> Thank you once more to my beta [MissCoppelia](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissCoppelia/pseuds/MissCoppelia), you're awesome!

Her anxiety is out of control as she walks the blocks around the house, over and over for hours, trying to figure out what to do.

She knows who he is.

Kylo Ren, Snoke’s best fighter in the pits where aliens fight, sometimes to the death. She had seen the pits once in one of her scavenging trips across town but had to look away from the awful violence. She never understood how something like that is considered a form of entertainment, a very lucrative one for that matter. But then again, so is Spice.

Now Kylo Ren has her backpack.

If it had been just her clothes it would have been manageable, but the goddamn credits are there and her hands are already starting to shake.

She waits until it’s dark again, ignoring her empty stomach.

Back at his house, Rey peeks through the fence and sees him there, sitting on the porch in a rocking chair, facing the shed.

 _Fuck_.

She looks around her and spots a piece of plastic in the rubble. Her brain supplies an idea.

It’s risky but she can’t wait anymore.

Grabbing the plastic, she goes around the house to a spot in the fence that’s behind him. It’s just as easy to climb and she manages to do it without making a noise louder than the sounds of the city.

As she nears him, slowly and carefully, she can see that he’s shirtless and many cuts and bruises decorate his grey skin. Some of them look really bad. She also notices surgical tools and bacta patches spread across the patio table. He’s wrapping a bandage around his forearm.

She needs to focus.

Making her final approach, she firmly presses the plastic against his head.

“Don’t fucking move.” She hisses. 

He lets out a light gasp and freezes.

“Where’s my bag?” She asks with the firmest voice she can muster.

“Please, put the gun down.” His deep, low voice says softly. Too softly.

“Where is it?” She demands through gritted teeth and nudges his head with the plastic.

He breathes in shakily and slightly turns his face. There are bruises there too and his cheek looks swollen.

“Don’t turn around! Hands up!” She shouts and he obeys. “What did you do to my backpack?”

“It’s inside the house,” he almost whispers. “Please, don’t hurt me.”

“Get up!” She demands, ignoring his plea. “Step inside the house. Slowly.”

When he gets up, she has to control herself not to run away. He looks like he’s two meters tall and proportionately wide, a mountain of pure muscle. She’s terrified but she keeps it in as she follows him, feeling a little silly to still be aiming the plastic to his head as if it were a real gun. But she keeps it in case he turns around.

He opens the door and goes inside, holding it open for her, in slow, tense movements. His breath shakes but he keeps going.

“There.” He says, pointing to a chair where her backpack is.

“Did you take anything?”

“No.”

“Don’t you fucking lie to me! Did you take anything?” She lets the fear and panic turn into rage in her voice.

“N-no, I swear.”

She steps towards the backpack, eyes fixed on him.

“Go all the way inside,” she tells him. “And sit down on the floor.”

Once he’s facing the kitchen wall opposite from where they came in, he sits down like she told him to. Without wasting another second, Rey grabs her bag and darts out the back door and into the backyard, making her escape once more but not before snatching a bacta patch from his table.

She runs like she did that morning, taking turns at every corner to lose him if he ever went after her.

***

Teedo is the worst kind of human there is but he’s got the best price for Spice in town. The trade happens quickly and she holds the precious drug in her shaking hand inside her pocket. 

She tried to fight it for a few days, but it was futile.

After selling the bacta patch, she spent some of the credits in synthetic meals since it was never enough to rent a bed anyway. Trying not to think about how filthy she was, she managed to hide in some stairs and sleep there at night before she was found and chased away.

Now there she is, wandering around the city again, facing her new problem: she can’t really use it on the streets, she’ll end up dead for sure.

Desperation bubbles inside her, pushing her thoughts to the only place she can think of.

It’s either certain death by strangers or possible death by mountainous alien.

 _Certain versus possible_.

Her feet carry her to his house once more, and when she realizes it, she’s there staring at the outside of his fence. She peeks through it again, spotting the empty porch. The lights inside the house are off.

She’s too distraught to second guess it now.

Once more, she makes it to the shed but this time she barricades the door with a broom and empty crates.

She sits down on the floor and repeats her ritual from the last time she was here.

Lying down on her back, her shaky hands break the vial and she inhales it.

~*~

She falls through the dark cave and into the freezing water. She thrashes her limbs, trying to get to the surface. She manages to reach the shore of the circular pond and get on her feet.

She stares at the foggy mirror that takes up all the height of the large cave, seeing her reflection as always.

And, as always, she reaches out a hand to touch it and a thousand Reys mimic her, reflected infinitely on the mirror.

“Let me see them…” She begs. “My parents… Please…”

On the cold surface, two shadows walk over to her, getting closer, and her heart begins to race. She knows it, this is it, this is when she’ll see them.

They’re so close, she can almost see their faces. Any moment now, just one bit more.

But as they near her, the shapes merge into one, and Rey’s heart breaks all over again, knowing how it ends.

The shadow reaches its hand to her on the other side of the mirror and the foggy surface reveals the face it was hiding. She sees only her boring hazel eyes and scrawny face staring back at her.

Rey falls to her knees, bracing herself, feeling cold and desolate. She sobs softly letting the pain wash over her.

Her crying stops when she hears a low growl.

Her blood freezes in her veins and she looks up, realizing she’s back at the shed and the huge shadow of Kylo Ren looms over her again.

She moves to run but her limbs are slow and heavy and he catches her by her clothes.

All she sees is absolute fury in those cat-like eyes, matched with an ugly scowl of anger and a deep growl that’s getting louder.

Too late, she regrets having come here and wails in desperation, begging her parents to come back and save her.

Then the world turns black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who's a fan of Feral Human!Rey and Soft Big Alien!Kylo?


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey wakes up in the shed again to a surprise this time.

She wakes up with something soft and warm covering her. Still half asleep, she shifts from her position but the ache from sleeping on the uneven ground wakes her up a little.

Mindlessly, she caresses the soft fabric until her foggy brain catches up.

She darts up, gasping, staring at the blanket covering her.

She pushes it away as if it were on fire, remembering her vision from the night before.

_ He really was here. _

She grabs her things and gets up, ready to escape again.

That’s when she notices a bottle and a package on the floor, beside her makeshift bed.

She kneels down again and carefully opens the bottle to smell it. It’s water. Her eyes go to the package, it’s a cloth tied up with a bow. When she undoes it, there are a few protein bars and synthetic bread.

She lets out an incredulous chuckle.

Why didn’t he just kill her? Why do all this? Is he toying with her?

She shoves some of the food in her mouth, washing it all down with several gulps of water.

Stuffing the rest of it in her bag, she peeks outside.

_ Clear. _

She climbs the fence again and leaves.

_ For good. _

She spends the day at the junkyards, asking if anyone needs a hand but no one even looks at her, some even chase her away. She really needs a sonic shower, she thinks.

She hides to eat another protein bar. The sun is already setting.

It only takes her one hour of circling around his house to make up her mind this time.

Climbing his fence for the umpteenth time, she sneaks up to the now familiar shed and shuts the door.

She gasps when she sees a mattress with a pile of sheets and a blanket on top, next to another package and bottle.

Is he fattening her up to eat her?

She really should go somewhere else.

Instead, she makes her bed and sits on it, eating the food and drinking the water, but not all of it. She tucks the rest of the bars in her bag again and lies down, trying to make sense of this.

***

The next morning there’s more food at the door. She squints her eyes at the house. If she weren’t so afraid she’d be annoyed.

The day is the same as the others. The mechanics can’t afford another helper, the scrap shops are not hiring and the junkyards have caught fire again.

She passes by another poster, but this time she stops to look at it.

_ Reject corporate entertainment _

_ Reject artificial living _

_ Join the Resistance _

Rey doesn’t remember much of the world before but she remembers the color green. It came from plants and trees, she was told, and that’s where the food came from. If now all the resources are synthetic, she can’t help but be extremely curious about how they’ve managed to survive that long out there. She shrugs and walks away.

The food Kylo leaves her is the nice kind, worth a good amount of credits; she sells them and makes enough for Spice in a few days.

Every sunset she goes back to his house and manages to sneak into the shed before he comes out to sit on the porch.

She watches him through a crack in the wooden boards. His bruises have almost faded and somehow her heart feels relief in seeing that. He is her benefactor after all.

He’s beautiful, just like all aliens. His bluish gray skin is hidden by a shirt this time but she can see his wide frame, made up of pure muscle, and she chuckles upon seeing that he can barely fit in his rocking chair. His jet black hair is almost shoulder length and, although she can’t see his face in detail, his full lips and strong nose make up one of the most fascinating faces she’s ever seen.

_ Beautiful _ .

He’s surprisingly graceful for an alien that size. She loves the way he moves around his things, so careful. It makes her smile to herself.

He always has a holopad and seems to be writing something. She wishes she could see it.

The boards creak when she shifts one hand and he shoots a furtive glance in the direction of the shed. Rey gasps and drops to the ground, her cheeks flushing violently even if she’s alone.

She gives up and goes to bed, passing out on her too comfortable mattress.

***

“Did you hear?” Teedo says.

“What?” She asks, annoyed, holding the credits in her shaking hand.

“The Resistance. They’re recruiting.”

“The Resistance?”

“Yeah, they’ve announced it everywhere.”

“Bullshit.”

“It's true.” He says, handing her the vial of Spice.

Rey usually makes sure to interact as little as possible, but what he said made her curious.

“Where?” She asks.

“Downtown, next to the old statue. But people say they have a camp in the north.”

_ North _ .

Rey sighs and shakes the thought away, swiftly snatching the vial from Teedo’s hand. She stomps out as fast as she can, making her way back to the shed.

Kylo is not home this time, she notices.

Inside the shed, she changes and makes her bed, but doesn’t eat. It’s probably not wise.

She breaks the vial and inhales.

~*~

Her cave is so dark and so cold. But there she stands in front of the mirror once more, begging. But it only shows her what she doesn’t want to see.

When she falls to her knees this time, she smells smoke, fuel, and blood.

She gets knocked down by a human who stops to shoot an alien who, in return, launches a grenade to where she is. She runs in panic, while the humans and the aliens kill each other in the battlefield.

All she sees is violence as the war rages around her.

She tries to run but she’s surrounded by explosions and gunshots everywhere.

She screams and falls to the ground, her hands are bloodied and dirty. Both humans and aliens are closing in on her, she knows she’s going to die.

Then the world goes black again.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey and Kylo’s first real interaction.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is a graphic depiction of wounds from one of Kylo’s fights in this chapter. They’re what you would expect from a boxing match that went on for too long. There’s mention of someone else’s blood too. I’ve also added the “Hurt/Comfort” tag and removed the “Mention of wanting to die” tag. The chapter count has been revised.

Rey wakes up feeling like shit. She eats the food and drinks the water but doesn’t feel any better. Looking outside, she can’t tell if it’s dawn or dusk, the sky is simply beige from the thick dust.

A beam of a light suddenly makes its way through the wooden boards of the shed and her attention is drawn outside. 

She gets up and peeks at the house.

There’s a loud thud that makes her jump and gasp. Then silence.

Without thinking, she leaves the shed and walks to the house. She reaches the porch and peeks inside, but can’t see anything. Taking a deep breath, she pushes the door open.

Kylo is sitting on the floor, leaning against the wall, legs spread in front of him. He is shirtless and his arms slump to his sides and his head is down. He is covered in bruises and there’s a wide cut that spans almost across his entire chest, bleeding his dark blue blood. The same colour that covers both of his hands all the way up to his forearms. She can hear soft, short sobs coming from him.

The sight shatters her heart.

Kylo doesn’t react when she sits down in front of him on the floor, he just stays there and lets the tears drip down his chest, like he’s given up.

She wants to say something but can’t, her throat is too tight. Instead, she gets up and looks around. Sure enough, there’s a bacta patch on the kitchen counter. She grabs it and rips it open, sitting back on the floor in front of him.

He looks up at her then.

She is shocked by the bloating of the left side of his face, it has completely swallowed his eye, disfiguring him. The other eye is bloodshot and he’s bleeding from a small cut on his right cheek.

Tears stream down his face as he looks at her, but soon his head bows again and tiny sobs leave his chest.

She reaches out her hand and gently nudges his chin to make him look up again.

“Let me see.” She whispers.

She’s surprised by the softness and warmth of his skin when she touches him. He raises his face but his yellow eye doesn’t focus on her.

Taking a dollop of bacta in her hand, she comes closer and gently smears it on the left side of his face. A small whine comes out of him and he lets his head lean back to the wall, closing his eyes in pain. She keeps working until all the bruises and swollen parts are covered with it.

Trying not to think about it, she grabs a wet cloth to clean the blood from his hands before she can treat the bruises on his arms and chest. She has to use up three patches to completely cover all that surface.

When she looks at his face again, she’s relieved to see that the bloating is significantly reduced, so much so that both his eyes are looking at her now. They’re so sad that it breaks her heart anew.

“Hi.” She says softly.

Kylo blinks slowly and his lips part but no sound comes out.

Rey puts down the patches and sits against the wall beside him. She lightly places one hand on his arm, watching his chest heave up and down.

She stays there with him in silence, listening to the sound of his breathing.

Eventually, he tries to get up. Startled, she recoils, crawling away from him until she stops her stupid self and goes back to help him.

She shoulders him as best as she can and they stumble together to the bedroom. She helps him lie on his bed with difficulty, but once he’s there he sighs and closes his eyes, shedding more silent tears.

Rey covers him with a blanket and decides to let him rest but is unsure what to do. He’s in terrible shape and he’ll need help to get better and by this point she’s pretty sure he won’t kill her but she has no idea if he would want her in his house.

Sitting down on the sofa, she nervously fidgets with her hands, trying to decide if she should go back to her shed or not.

In the end, she curls up on the couch and falls asleep.

***

Rey wakes up well rested, having slept deeply. It takes her a moment to remember where she is.

The house is silent.

She gets up and goes to the bedroom to check on him.

Kylo is still asleep. She gets close and kneels beside him on the floor to take a better look at his wounds.

Even though they’re better, his face is still slightly swollen and she fears some of the cuts will leave new scars. She can see them better now. Some of them are old and clear, some are darker, more recent.

And his face is the most beautiful thing Rey has ever seen in her life.

She’ll apply more bacta later, for now, she lets him rest.

She takes a look around the house. It’s old and worn out, like it has been abandoned for a long time before he came to live here. The formerly white wallpaper is peeling from the walls and the wooden boards creek. Everything has been tinged with dust it seems, but to her it’s amazing. It’s like a real home.

She takes a tour: one bedroom, kitchen, living room and bathroom.

_Speaking of which…_

She goes back to the shed to grab her things and peeks at Kylo one more time to make sure he’s still asleep. Then she locks herself in the bathroom.

There’s an inviting bathtub and a shower head.

She grimaces when the pipes make a loud noise when the water starts running, hoping it isn’t enough to wake him up.

She feels happy as she strips to her skin and enters the water. She sighs and relaxes in a way she doesn’t remember ever having had in her entire life. She can’t help but smile.

The water quickly becomes beige as she soaks herself in it. Rey has never had this much water at her disposal before so she scrubs the dirt from her skin and hair thoroughly, until she’s pink and flushed.

She remembers Kylo and figures she needs to leave before he finds her abusing his hospitality.

Rey dries herself quickly and jumps into her last clean clothes.

She checks on him again and finds him awake, trying to sit up on the bed.

“Wait!” She says a little too loud and he’s startled, slumping back on the bed with a grunt. “You’ll hurt yourself. Please.” She says, softer, coming closer.

His yellow eyes stare at her, making her weak in the knees.

_Beautiful._

“What do you need?”

“Water.” He answers softly, his voice croaky.

She goes to the kitchen to grab a glass of water. She helps him sit up, putting a pillow behind his back. He gulps the water down.

“Not so fast.” She says, gently holding the glass against his lips.

His feline eyes look so dull and his face shows nothing but misery. When he’s done, he sighs and closes his eyes, and Rey leaves the glass of water by the bed and lets him rest some more.

He sleeps for the next two days almost straight. When he’s awake, Rey applies the bacta on his wounds and he always lets her, but doesn’t speak a word. She thinks it’s best not to ask about the fight.

She finds a few credits scattered around the house and goes out to get food and more bacta. She cleans the house and tries her hand at cooking, but she eats alone since Kylo is still sleeping.

At the end of the third day, Rey has already gotten acquainted with the kitchen and she’s absorbed herself on the task of making possibly the best synthetic bread she’s ever tasted when she turns around and shrieks.

Kylo is looming over her, watching her work. She grabs her chest, willing her heart to calm down.

“You scared the shit out of me!” She chastises and he shyly recoils, but then his eyes flicker to her dirty hands and to the dough that’s rapidly rising on the bowl. “What? I’m making bread.”

The way he looks at her is enough to make her both blush and worry but she controls herself and walks around him to grab a chair. “You shouldn’t be standing. Sit down.”

He does as she says but keeps watching her move around the kitchen. Her cheeks flush when she realizes the mess she made.

“I’ll clean it all up later.” She says apologetically, but he doesn’t seem angry, he didn’t even seem to notice.

She finishes preparing the meal, stealing glances at him. Kylo is examining his wounds. All the cuts are closed and the bruises have almost faded. He seems to be satisfied with the result.

Then he stands up and walks towards her.

She is frozen by him approaching and her breath catches when he reaches behind her, soft eyes fixed on her. He grabs two plates and two spoons from the cupboard and takes them to the table.

“Does that mean we’re eating together?” She asks and tries to hide the way she flushes.

He nods and sits down, waiting for her.

She brings the food and they begin to eat. She keeps peeking at him, trying to gauge his mysterious state of mind.

“Sorry I used up all your flour, and your protein,” she says. “I’ll get us more though. And I’ve run a load of laundry too, I hope that’s okay. And I used your bathtub. A few times. But I didn’t use up too much water, I swear. And uh… I know a place that sells really good synth veggies for a really good price so you don’t have to worry about--”

“What’s your name?”

She blinks at him, gaping.

“Rey.” She finally answers.

“Rey.” He repeats, his voice croaky. “Beautiful.”

There’s no hiding the blush that takes over her face this time, still she turns her gaze to her food and clears her throat. “And you’re Kylo.”

“Yes.” She hears him say.

They eat in silence after that. When they’re done, he tries to help her but she takes the dishes from his hands and shushes him away.

He goes outside and sits on his chair, closing his eyes and rocking himself slowly.

Rey walks over to him, gazing at his form. Everything about him is fascinating to her, but especially the way he acts around her. She can’t explain it, she feels safe with him, now knowing he won’t hurt her, but he’s so strange and fascinating, she can’t help feeling awestruck.

She’s just awkwardly standing there, staring at him when he opens his eyes. She makes to turn around but his voice stops her.

“How do you know my name?” He asks.

She bites her lips and leans on the door jamb. “You’re the fighter,” she says.

“You’ve been to the pits?”

“Once. It’s awful. I couldn't watch.”

“Mm.”

“Sorry.”

“It’s okay,” he says. “You’re right.”

“So… you agree?”

He glances at her. “It doesn’t matter what I think.”

“Yes, it does.” She retorts and immediately regrets it, suddenly realizing that it isn’t fair what she just asked, since she knows his answer is probably true. And the question that would follow is not asked either: she knows why he’s still there. The same reason they’re all doing what they do.

“I just…” He continues, breaking eye contact and shrugging, as if his words didn’t matter. “I fight well enough to stay alive and that’s the end of it.”

His face looks miserable when he says it and he glances at his hands, clenching them into fists.

“I wish you didn’t have to.”

He snorts softly without humour. She takes a few steps to sit on the steps of the porch, and mindlessly kicks some tiny rocks, stirring up the dust.

“Kylo?” She eventually says, glancing at him. “Why did you let me stay?”

He looks at her then - really looks. She can see it in his face, his mind working, as if she had just told him something he’d never considered before.

“Why wouldn’t I?” He answers at last.

“I thought you were going to kill me that day. But you didn’t.”

“I’m sorry if I scared you.” He simply says.

“I’m sorry too,” she blurts out. “For pointing a gun at you. That wasn't a gun by the way. I hate guns. That was a piece of plastic. I could never afford a gun and even if I did, I would never buy one. If it were my choice I’d make them all disappear from the face of the earth. And uh, sorry I took one of your bacta patches. I sold it and used the money to… buy food. I don’t usually do this. Taking stuff. But I’ll pay you back, I promise.”

“It’s okay.” He says, and his eyes look clearer, like he’s about to smile. “And… thank you… for…” He gestures to his face and torso, and looks at her expectantly.

Rey just smiles and nods.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey moves in and learns a little bit more about Kylo. They get close.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another shout out to [MissCoppelia](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissCoppelia/pseuds/MissCoppelia) for being an amazing beta reader!

She’s been sleeping on his couch for the last days and she’s not really surprised to see that she sleeps deeply when she’s inside the house, just a few steps away from where he is.

Kylo took out a chair from the shed and cleaned it, so they could sit together on the porch. Rey had tentatively asked him if she could see what he was writing and she was thrilled when he said yes. Now she sits beside him on her chair, watching him write and he always reads it to her.

She loves it. They do it every night. Except the nights he goes out to fight.

She gets really anxious on those nights, sometimes even angry. But luckily, Kylo has come back home with only a few bruises so far. It seems like the fights have been short. Rey tries her best not to think why.

He’s always silent after the fights. She tries to cheer him up, showing him what she cooked while he was away: artificial veggies and protein bars and her now usual synthetic bread. He gladly follows her around as she shows him, paying close attention as she blabbers, talking about domestic chores.

Rey always makes sure there’s enough bacta in the house, just in case.

***

It’s too dusty to be outside so they stay inside tonight, Rey sitting on the couch and Kylo on his desk.

She finishes her book and puts her holopad down, looking at him completely absorbed in his task. He is so focused that he doesn’t seem to notice when she sits beside him on the bench.

She watches his scarred hands draw the beautiful flourishes on the holopad.

Absentmindedly, she scoots closer to him and leans her head against his left arm to watch him better. He stops for a microsecond but then resumes his writing, and then he almost imperceptibly leans against her too.

“What are you writing about today?”

“About my planet.”

“What was it like?” She asks, bumping her nose on his warm skin.

“I don’t remember much.” He mutters, drawing a series of beautiful shapes on the digital page. “But I remember that it was green.”

Rey closes her eyes and grins widely, doing her best to imagine an alien landscape painted with her favourite color. “Wow… I wish I could see it.”

“There were cities,” Kylo draws a circle and several radial lines, “and oceans and lakes,” a long loop with a shorter one, “there were animals too,” small jagged horizontal traces. Kylo breathes in and leans his head further into her until she can feel his breath on top of her head. “My people were happy.”

“Why did you leave?” She asks, hypnotized by his hands and the sound of his voice.

He halts.

“I didn’t.”

Even though she’s not looking at him, she can perceive the bottomless sadness that takes hold of his being, and she chastises herself for causing him pain by stirring up old memories, but she couldn’t help but ask that question. Before she can apologize, he continues.

“The warlords stole us when we were young from our families and took us in their spaceships to find other worlds to conquer. I was raised to be a soldier. I was Snoke’s most trusted officer.”

Rey moves to look at him. Sure enough, she sees bright, yellow eyes. She takes his hands in hers.

“I killed so many… many humans.” He confesses, his voice full with regret and she wonders what it must feel like to kill someone. She wonders what it does to one’s soul. What it did to his.

“What about your family?” She asks, brushing his palms with her fingers. “What happened to them?”

Kylo hesitates, looking at their combined hands, slouching in the seat, trying to make himself smaller. “I don’t know. But I remember their faces.” He says and his face changes a little, it gets lighter. “My mother was beautiful and her eyes were kind. My father too. There were others but I don’t know who they were.” His voice is sweet and melancholic, and his chest heaves a deep sigh.

Rey listens, squeezing his too large hands in her own; the words he’s saying make her heart so heavy. She knows that stories about family never end well.

“Kylo Ren was not the name they gave me, but I can’t remember my real one.”

Those sweet, feline eyes bore into hers, swimming with tears.

“I grew up a soldier in a military spaceship, fighting for my commanders, killing and destroying world after world, but I never forgot about them,” he says it once more. “I used to send them messages - like this one - but... they’ve never answered. So eventually I stopped. I think they’re dead or too far out there to listen, or both.”

No matter how much she’s used to sorrow, Rey’s heart breaks a little more for him.

His huge fingers caress her hands and he pouts his full lips as tears run down his face.

Rey wipes them and he looks at her, thankful and weary. She wishes she could do something, anything.

“Rey?”

“Yes?”

“Stay?” He whispers, gently caressing her hand.

“I’m not going anywhere.” She says with certainty and leans forward.

Her lips land on his. The contact lasts only a moment, but when she leaves him, his face transforms into the first smile she’s ever seen upon his face. He even giggles when her hands stroke his cheeks, and so does she.

He tentatively pulls her to him and she goes, ending up with her legs over his and her hands looped around his neck. He envelops her in his arms and she wants to cry because she’s never felt comfort and warmth like this.

“I liked kissing you.” She says.

“Me too.”

“We can do it again if you want to.”

His smile is so beautiful and she wants to stare at it, but when he kisses her again she melts into him, closing her eyes.

She lightly sucks on his lips, making him chuckle, she breaks the kiss and lets him come to her, curious of what he will do.

He mimics her, but when his mouth opens, she opens hers too and they fit together perfectly. She can taste him and her heart begins to race. 

She suddenly remembers her hands and they immediately move to caress his hair.

He moans loudly and parts the kiss, leaning his head into her hands. His eyes are closed in a blissful expression, and she massages his scalp with her fingers, loving the way he looks and sounds.

Blindly, he searches for her mouth again, but just presses his lips to her in a soft touch while she cards her fingers through his mane.

There’s an annoyed sound that comes out of his throat when she stops and she bites her lips to hide her smile.

She gets up and offers her hand to him.

“Come on, let’s go to bed.”

He takes it and gets up. She pulls him by the hand and he follows.

Her face is burning but she lies there smoothing his side of the bed. Kylo joins her, never taking his eyes off of her.

He folds his arms onto himself, lying on his side, worrying his lips.

“Would you do that again?” He asks shyly and a little fearfully, but his face relaxes when she smiles and opens her arms to him.

He eagerly scoots over, somehow fitting his huge torso in her embrace. He groans when her fingers resume their work on his soft hair.

Rey feels so happy she thinks her heart is going to burst. He falls asleep first, encased in her too small arms with her caressing his hair and she soon follows.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did I just write this whole fic so I could have a scene where Kylo falls asleep with Rey petting his hair? Maybe...


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They get even closer and Rey realizes something about herself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “Pleasure-focused sex: focus on sexual activities that bring pleasure, not necessarily penetration or orgasms.”
> 
> I’d like to thank my beta [MissCoppelia](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissCoppelia/pseuds/MissCoppelia) once more and [persimonne](https://archiveofourown.org/users/persimonne/pseuds/persimonne) for the help with the plot when this was nothing but an outline.

The next morning she wakes up with him curled up in her arms, in the same position they fell asleep in.

There isn’t much light so it must be early. She’s so warm, so comfortable, and when she stirs Kylo looks up at her, already awake.

He smiles that sweet smile from the night before and her heart does a thing. She loves it.

He nuzzles closer and she tightens the embrace, sighing and relaxing even more. His hands lazily roam across her back, her arms, her hair. 

When she looks at him again, there’s a question in his eyes.

She kisses him, capturing his plump lips on hers again. They kiss with their mouths open, and then she tentatively slips in her tongue. He seems to like it because he moans softly and pulls her body even closer to his.

Their tongues clashing makes the warmth turn to burning heat in her body.

The kiss breaks and he buries his face in her neck, peppering kisses there, his breath tickling her skin.

“Do you…” she clears her throat. “Do aliens… have sex?”

He halts. His breath catches almost imperceptibly and he shifts to look at her.

“Yes.” He answers shyly.

“Is it like humans?”

“I… I don’t know.”

“You’ve never…”

“No.”

“With a human?”

“No.”

“With an alien?”

“No.”

He doesn’t exactly look embarrassed, but his cheeks have turned a darker shade of bluish gray and he’s looking at her expectantly.

“I know all about sex,” she says, trying to keep a confident expression on her face. “I can teach you. First, we get naked, then we kiss, then we touch, and then… uh…”

She can’t keep her chuckle in and neither can he.

“I should probably show you.” She says, and they smile at each other.

She grabs his hair and pulls him back to her lips and he eagerly goes, wrapping her in his huge arms this time.

Rey’s hands try to touch his skin but his shirt gets in the way. Kylo clumsily lies on his back to remove it. She sits up to help him but ends up staring at him instead. She had already seen him shirtless countless times but this time it’s different.

He’s so strong, the strongest being she’s ever seen. His bulky muscles flex as he removes his shirt, revealing his gorgeous scarred and bluish skin.

She straddles him and bends over, kissing his neck and mouthing at his skin. She gives him tiny kisses as well as long, lingering ones. He whimpers softly as she does, his chest heaving, and his hands brush the skin on her thighs.

She is making strange noises too, she notices, but she likes the way she sounds. The feeling of his soft skin makes her dizzy and she keeps going, encouraged by his soft moans. 

She is all the way down his chest when she looks up to see him smiling softly, and she goes back for more kisses.

But then she gasps.

She has been wondering if he had… a cock, or if it was some other… organ, but there’s definitely something large underneath her, between his legs, pulsing and hot. She’s never seen a human one for comparison and the only porn she’s watched made her completely uninterested. And this feeling, this wanting, has never awakened inside of her before, until now.

“Kylo?”

“Yes?”

“I want to…” she hesitates.

“Tell me.” He asks gently, brushing her cheeks.

“I want you to see me,” she says shyly, getting up from the bed to stand by the bed. “Then I want to see you.”

When she slides her shirt over her head and pulls down her shorts, his pupils widen some more and his lips part. He spends a few moments looking at her body. And how she loves his eyes on her...

He gets up, never breaking eye contact. His body towers over hers while he takes a deep breath and his fingers slide into the hem of his pants and push them down.

His naked body is beautiful. His thighs are thick and strong and his cock is prodding from between them, and she blushes to realise it’s a darker shade of bluish grey with a thick rounded head, leading into a ribbed shaft. She’s staring at it, she knows, but he doesn’t seem to mind.

Taking his hand in hers, she invites him to lie back down with her on the bed. Their legs entwine together and the contact of their bare skin sends little jolts of pleasure through her. Kylo is simply holding her, breathing hard, but soon his hands start to wander.

Bliss washes over her; his rough, large hands feel so soft and warm on her skin. She takes his hands and places them over her breasts.

His vertical pupils widen even more, pushing the gold of his irises to the rim. The air leaves his lungs in shaky breaths as he kneeds the soft flesh. She is flushed and heated, and she knows she’s wet.

His leg is slotted between hers and she pushes her sex onto him, not caring about the trail she’s leaving on his leg. His cock feels hot against her stomach as she grinds against it.

Kylo stares at her in awe, and small whimpers come out of his parted lips as he follows her movements.

As they move, Kylo kisses her and then breaks the kiss to look at her, smiling briefly and then turning serious to kiss her again, as if he can’t decide which of the two he likes best.

It feels so good, better than anything she’s ever experienced.

The sounds he makes are driving her crazy with pleasure, just as much as the contact. Small grunts and whimpers along with his ragged breaths. He looks lost and dazed, but in the best way possible.

Pure pleasure takes her and she lets it.

His pupils dilate completely, making his wide eyes go dark. Kylo shudders and gasps, as his cock pulses against her stomach.

Everything is wet below her waist and she loves it.

Kylo’s eyes slowly come back to normal as she softly caresses his hair. But then his brows knit together and his face turns pained, and he buries his face on the crook of her neck and begins to cry.

“Kylo!” She asks, searching for his gaze. “What happened? Why are you crying? Did I do something wrong? Oh, please, tell me--”

He seals his lips to hers, gently grabbing her face. When they part, he half-laughs half-cries, looking at her like she’s the most wonderful thing in the universe.

“Rey…” Her name is all he can say through his breathy laughs.

Rey laughs too, tears spilling from her eyes, and when the kisses end, it’s because they fall asleep again.

***

Rey smiles, looking at the house. Their house. She feels so happy she can’t really wrap her head around it.

In the bedroom, she goes to grab a shirt from her backpack, thinking about how it was all she had only a while ago and that she should stop being so lazy and finally use the drawers that Kylo gave her, when she hears the clinking of glass inside it.

She halts for a moment. Then reaches inside the pocket and pulls out two empty vials of Spice.

That’s when she realizes that she hasn’t used it since…

She hears Kylo approach her and her hand reflexively jerks the empty vials behind her, trying to hide them from him.

She stops herself but can’t think of anything to say. “Uh… sorry, I wasn’t going to… I was just looking for a shirt… they’re empty--“

“It’s okay,” he says, softly smiling and brushing her arm with the back of his hand. “You can use it if you need to.”

She doesn’t want to examine why she’s so ashamed. Kylo knows about this, always has. She can only stand there, worrying the vials in her hand.

“It’s okay.” He repeats, simply smiling at her and walking back to the living room.

Her cheeks burn and her eyes follow him as the familiar urge takes hold of her. She remembers the cave and the fragile hope of seeing her parents being crushed by the image of herself, but for the first time she stops to think about it, to finally face it.

But maybe the mirror was trying to show her something.

Maybe it’s time to let the past die. To stop waiting for parents who so cruelly abandoned her as a five year old child at the door of the orphanage, a few months into the war. Since then, all she wanted was to be with them again, no matter what it took, all the while denying the truth that they’re not coming back.

Maybe the belonging she seeks isn’t behind. It is ahead.

Maybe the mirror hadn’t been cruel after all.

Her shame fades a little and it’s replaced by something that she can’t quite explain while she gazes at Kylo writing on his desk. At one point he looks up and gives her a smile that warms her heart.

She remembers how scared she was when they first met and now she can’t stand the thought of parting with him.

For the first time in her life she cares about someone other than herself.

She suddenly remembers what he told her about his letters.

An idea lights up in her head.

Her parents weren’t coming back, but there’s someone who still could.

She quickly goes to the kitchen and throws the vials on the bin. She knows she’ll have to use again eventually but for now she goes back to the living room and sits on his lap to watch him write beautiful letters on the page.

***

“Come on, Kylo!” She says, pulling him by the hand.

“What is it?” He asks as he stomps behind her, following her.

“Urgh, it’s a surprise, silly! Come on!”

She leads him outside where Kylo eyes the ladder that she unearthed from the shed and frowns.

“Follow me!”

She swiftly climbs up the ladder, and she grimaces when it creaks under Kylo’s weight - one variable she hasn’t considered - but it survives and they both climb on to the roof of his house.

“What is that?” He tilts his head curiously, no doubt spotting the antenna and his holopad lying there.

“I thought you might… want to try again?” Rey says. “To send your letters to your family. Like you used to. I thought that it was worth trying, you know? The dust and the lights might make it harder for the signal to go through, but I’ve built a couple of antennas before by myself and let me tell ya, this one is pretty decent. I think… And if we send it every night, we’ll increase our chances.”

The pain that crosses his face makes her fear that she’s hurt him again. “It won’t work, Rey.”

“They may still be out there,” she tries. “You said it yourself. And if they aren’t, what harm could it do?”

Kylo looks at her with something akin to pity in his eyes, or forlorn hope, but he sits down beside the holopad and reaches out a hand to her, and she smiles in relief.

He holds her tight with one arm and begins to write while she nuzzles comfortably against his chest.

“Dear mother and father…” He mumbles, but then he stops and she looks up at him. Kylo’s eyes seem lost, as if he’s searching for the right words. “I don’t even know what to say.”

“Tell them what’s in your heart…”

Kylo sighs and slightly shakes his head, eyes lost.

“Tell them where you are and that you miss them,” Rey suggests. “And that you wish you could see them again.”

A small smile passes his lips and he resumes his writing. When he’s done, he connects the pad to the antenna and they lie on their backs to gaze at the sky, listening to the beeping sounds of the antenna working. Even through the dust and city lights they can see a few stars.

“See? They might still be out there.” She repeats, pointing at the sky and he holds her closer.

Kylo gives her a smile, even if a little sad.

She sinks in the warmth of his arms and eventually dozes off. She holds onto him when he gets up and helps her off the roof.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kylo goes out to fight and Rey has a setback. They make a decision.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Only one more chapter to go! Thank you so much for all your comments and encouragement, it means the world to me!
> 
> Now have some more soft Alien/Human sex.

Rey sits stiffly on the dining table. Her jaw is shut and her arms are crossed in front of her. Her eyes only follow him. She huffs when he passes in front of her, busy, getting ready to leave.

“Kylo.” She calls.

He halts but doesn’t face her, but she sees him gulp and his lips work.

“Please don’t go.” Her voice is supposed to have come out angry and hurt, but it becomes a whiny plea.

He lets out a breath. “I have to.”

“Kylo, you could…” she can’t say the word.

“I won't. I survived this far.”

“Don’t go.” Her voice sounds so small, even for her. There’s this bad feeling she can’t shake.

She sees a twinge of pain cross his face and he finally faces her, kneeling in front of her to look at her in the eyes. His own eyes beg for mercy as his fingers caress her cheeks.

“Please…” Rey begs. “Don’t go back to that place.”

“Snoke will never let me leave.”

Rey is so afraid, she has so much to lose now.

“We could run away.” She says weakly, staring at the ground.

“To where, Rey?” Kylo asks, defeated.

“To the Resistance.” She says with more certainty, eyeing him to gauge his reaction. “I know where they are. We can drive north, we’ll get there before Snoke even notices you’re gone.”

His face hardens. “We won’t make it.” 

“We will.”

“Rey…”

“Do you want to keep hurting your own people? Do you want to die there in the pits? Do you want to leave me alone here in this world?” Her tone is finally angry, and she feels tears prick her eyes, both because she knows it’s unfair to ask and because she can’t stand this anymore: all this violence and pain and misery, for what?

He slouches and his lips work again.

“I’ll be fine,” he says, brushing the skin of her arms. “I’ve managed so far”

“Just… come back to me.”

“I promise.” He says, serious and resolute.

She lets him go, feeling this awful, deep pain hooking her heart.

The hours pass and Rey really feels the need to use again. But she can’t be unconscious when he gets back in case he needs help.

Her anxious state of mind only gets worse when he’s late.

_He’s okay. He’s fine._

The sound of a car approaching makes her perk up and she runs to the front door to greet him.

When she opens the door she sees a large van and two aliens tossing Kylo onto the front of their house, taking off right after.

She cries out and goes to him, grabbing him by the shoulders and turning him around. He has a respirator on.

Crying and shaking, she examines him but she can’t really focus or see properly, it’s too dark and her eyes are blurry from her tears.

She grabs him by his clothes and pulls him, using all her strength to get him in. Once inside, she closes the door behind her and tries to assess the damage. 

He doesn’t have many bruises on the rest of his body but there’s a giant one on his neck. It looks like he was strangled.

They just gave him the respirator so he wouldn’t die and dumped him here. Like he was nothing.

Desperation clouds her thoughts. She can’t stand this anymore.

She doesn’t have enough strength to put him on the bed so she brings the covers and pillows to him. Making the best bed she can, she lies beside him on the floor, feeling numb and heartsick and her tears lull her to sleep.

***

The next day he’s almost silent. He keeps nudging her though, he keeps touching her, seeking her out. She’s not mad, how could she be? Not with him at least. But she can’t smile at him just yet.

Despite the silence between them, they still do everything together. He writes another letter, they send it. He cooks and she bakes. He recovers.

At night, they make love. Ever since she taught him how to make her come, he does it with his fingers and with any part of his body that she wants, as many times as she’ll let him. In return, she kisses his entire body and makes him come with her hands.

She holds him until he’s asleep.

***

Rey stares at the Spice in her hand again.

Swiftly going inside the house, she rushes past Kylo and locks herself in the bathroom, sitting down on the floor and leaning against the door. Her breath is shallow and her hands are shaking, and she feels even more stupid, knowing very well that Kylo saw her.

“Rey?” She hears his soft voice call her through the door.

She doesn’t answer, she doesn’t want him to see.

“Rey, please, let me in,” he gently asks. “It’s okay…”

She knows it is. But her shame is too strong.

She starts crying and hears him on the other side, his voice a tad more desperate. “My love… please… open the door and let me hold you…”

Because she can’t deny him, she moves away from the door and reaches up to the door knob to open it.

She keeps her gaze down but she sees in the corner of her eye him crawling to her. Kylo gently takes her in his arms, holding her so tight, but doesn’t make her look at him.

“Kylo…” She tries, her cheeks burning.

He softly shushes her. “I’ll hold you… so you’ll be safe…”

She doesn’t want to do this but she has to and she wants to explain it to him, but she can’t find the words.

Kylo only holds her, his arms are warm and his body is relaxed, and she can feel his thundering heart beating under her palm on his chest. She realizes that his grounding presence is soothing and she’s thankful for it. She’s thankful for so many things.

She breaks the vial and inhales it.

~*~

The cave is still there and so is her reflection, but she looks at her own face with less sorrow this time, examining her expression. She looks so much older than her twenties but she sees strength in there too, somewhere. She smiles softly and caresses the surface of the mirror and the Rey on the other side mimics her. That Rey feels like an old friend now, someone who’s been through life beside her, someone who she can rely on, someone who understands her and knows who she is, despite everything.

Although her heart still aches, she doesn’t feel that crushing emptiness anymore.

She waits for the next vision but it never comes and the world simply fades to black.

***

One evening, she is about to invite Kylo outside to sit on the porch but when she looks at him, she sees his sharp, feline eyes looking resolute.

“Let’s go.” Kylo suddenly says.

Rey’s eyebrows furrow. “What?”

“Let’s go, Rey, let’s run away.”

Her heart skips a beat. “Do you mean it?”

“Yes,” he says. “Let’s leave now.”

She lets out a whooping laugh and jumps to hug him.

They pack their bags with the essentials and load the car with food, water and, of course, bacta. 

Kylo looks nervous but also excited, as she is.

It’s the middle of the night when they get in the car and drive north.

The roads are empty and dilapidated but they manage to reach the old highway in no time.

Rey sees the sun dawning in the horizon and smiles. Kylo holds her hand and smiles too.

They drive the whole day and make a stop at an abandoned gas station.

“Look what I brought!” Rey beams at him, showing him the little antenna. “We can send your letters from here.”

Kylo chuckles and sweeps her up in his arms to kiss her.

They spread a blanket on the floor and lie down, Rey adjusts the antenna and turns it on while Kylo plugs in his holopad.

They stargaze as they listen to the beeping noises and Rey is delighted that she’s able to see more stars now that they are so far away from the city.

“I’m sure the Resistance will have better equipment to send your letters,” Rey says, nuzzling her face on his chest. “I wonder if they have plants there. I’m pretty sure they do, otherwise where do they get the food?”

“They might,” Kylo says. “And I’ll build a house for you, and a garden.”

“Mmm, I’d love a garden,” she says. “But I don’t want to get my hopes up.”

“Either way, we’ll have a home, just you and me.” Kylo says, kissing the top of her head.

“Home, yes…” she whispers. “I want to get sober and maybe study, you know… learn something.”

“What would you like to do?”

“I don’t know. I'm good with machines. Maybe I’ll learn that,” she says. “What about you?”

“Maybe I can teach kids how to read and write. I’d be a good teacher.”

“You would. The kids would love you. Everyone will love you, I know it.”

“I hope so.”

“Kylo?”

“Mm?”

Rey tries to find her words but can’t, all she can do is stare at his loving eyes that she adores. Hope is growing in her heart despite the fear and she lets it for once, looking at her beautiful, sweet alien.

His eyes dance over her face and they smile at each other before she lunges at him. She kisses his lips with hunger while his hands roam across her back.

His hands slip under her shirt and she lifts herself a little to help him, only parting the kiss to get rid of the piece of fabric.

Kylo sits up and turns them around, laying her on her back on the blanket. His blessed mouth sucks on her skin starting with her jaw and going down her neck while one hand slides down.

He stops kissing her when he grabs one of her tits to watch what he’s doing, even though it’s dark. He dives in again after a while, his trembling lips kissing her delicate flesh. Rey moans when he does it, feeling the electric sensation spreading all over her body.

His mouth travels lower to her stomach where his breath tickles her but she keeps still, not wanting him to stop. He alternates quick kisses and long, wet ones as she cards her fingers through his raven hair.

He moves his hands underneath the small of her back and makes her body arch, his mouth never leaving her. The chill of the night makes no difference over her heated skin.

He unbuttons her jeans and she helps him take them off. Rey makes eye contact as she slides her underwear down her legs.

“You, Rey, you are…” He sucks in a breath and exhales, his mesmerized eyes roaming her body, even though he’s seen her naked several times now. He takes both of her legs and opens her up.

She always trembles a little when he wants to look at her like this. She is burning under his gaze, but she lets him look, she loves it. His hand reaches for one of her ankles and he kisses it, his long fingers then trace a line on the underside of her leg in a featherlight touch. She now can’t contain the shivering as his hands near her center.

He looks the same way he does when he’s writing, focused and absorbed, but he also looks a little wild when his thumb caresses her clit. Rey cries out of pleasure and falls back on the blanket, staring at the sky.

She feels his mouth following the same path as his finger, approaching her core. He is unsure, but neither of them seem to mind.

He peppers kisses on her inner thigh until his mouth meets his fingers on her sex. He stops to look at it, giving her clit a kiss too.

She squeals and giggles, making Kylo look up. He smiles and does it again until she’s moaning instead of laughing.

His fingers work too; he plays with the wetness coming out of her, spreading it everywhere.

He stops and she looks up.

“Don’t stop...” She whines, making them both chuckle.

Kylo takes her hands and kisses each palm, placing them on his cheeks. When he dives in again, her hands slide to his hair and she’s able to guide him to where she likes best.

Kylo kisses her sex with an open mouth and she moans loudly, feeling so much pleasure she might cry.

“T-touch me too… like you were doing before…” she manages.

He tries his index finger but soon changes to his thumb. She gasps; she likes this one better and pushes against it, making small movements with her hips.

Soon his thumb is exactly where she wants it, spreading her entrance and pushing in just enough.

His other hand smooths her naked torso; it’s so big that his open palm spans almost her entire waist. Rey is lost to him, looking at him kissing the most intimate part of her.

She comes against his mouth and his finger, looking at the sky.

When it fades, she’s soft and languid, and she feels Kylo kiss his way up her body.

“Let me… let me touch you…” She mumbles from her position, barely able to reach out her hands to him.

She can feel how hard he is but Kylo only kisses her. He tastes strange now - of her - but she likes it. He breaks the kiss to bump his nose on hers. 

He rolls to lie on his side and pulls her to him. She would have been cold in the night chill but his large arms and hands are enough to warm her entire naked body.

Kylo smiles widely, his touch soothing her. The love she sees in his golden eyes makes her heart beat stronger and she hopes he sees the same in hers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They're so cute I can't...


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben and Kylo arrive at the Resistance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is it! Thank you so much for your wonderful comments, I really appreciate them!
> 
> This is where the text earns the rest of the tags and the archive warning, so please give them another read.
> 
> I’m in love with these two, they’re so cute! I will miss my brave feral human Rey and her sweet big alien Kylo...

They drive north for the rest of the day. Rey tries not to think about their limited stash of food and water. The landscape changes very little but she enjoys the clearer air and the wind on her face.

It’s dusk when they spot a smoke column in the horizon.

“There!” She points, her heart beginning to race. “They’re there, Kylo!”

Kylo takes the dirt road, leading to where the smoke is coming from.

But as they near the camp, Rey sees burned up cars and destroyed houses.

Her blood freezes in her veins as they drive to what’s left of the palisades. They can see fire still burning on the main premises.

They stop the car and Rey stumbles out. She can’t really feel her legs but she walks over to the ruined gates.

It’s all gone.

She falls to her knees, in shock. All she can do is stare at the ground.

She feels his arms wrap around her.

“Kylo… forgive me…” She whispers.

“It’s okay… we’ll find a way… we’re together…”

She holds onto him as she cries, regret twisting her gut. She chastises herself for being so naive and so stupid, and fears she’s doomed them both.

The noise of a vehicle approaching makes her look up.

Kylo’s demeanor changes when he sees it. As they stand up, his shoulders tense up and his fists clench, and he makes himself as big as he can. Stepping in front of her to shield her body with his, he holds her firmly behind him and a low, menacing growl comes out of his throat.

The dark van halts a few meters from them and out comes an alien, followed by others who point guns at them. The alien is almost as tall as Kylo, but he’s thin, shriveled almost, and his face is severely disfigured. His eyes are yellow, but cold and cruel.

Kylo’s growl intensifies.

“My boy,” the alien says. “Why would you do this? Run away on a fool’s errand with your pet human?”

_Snoke._

Kylo is shaking with contained fury and fear, it’s like he’s ready to pounce. But he keeps her behind him all the while. And Snoke’s goons keep their loaded guns pointed at them.

“But I forgive you,” Snoke continues. “All you have to do is come back with us and I’ll spare the human.”

“Swear it.” Kylo growls.

“Of course,” he says. “I don’t want the human, I don’t need her. And I’ve always kept my promises, haven’t I?”

“Rey,” Kylo whispers to her. “When I tell you, you run. As fast as you can.”

“Kylo--” She whimpers behind him.

“Let her go first.” Kylo says to his master.

“Put the handcuffs on, Kylo.” One of Snoke’s goons comes closer, holding out the restraints.

“Let her go.” Kylo growls.

Snoke considers it for a moment. “Fine.”

“Now! Run, Rey!”

“No, Kylo—“

“Run!”

She does, as fast as she can. But she only manages a few meters before there’s a loud bang and something hits her.

The impact makes her fall to the ground and she feels her flesh burn. But she manages to turn around to see Kylo breaking his handcuffs in an impossible feat of strength and attacking the alien who was next to him. Kylo rips his head off and then attacks the next one.

“Don’t shoot him!” Snoke shouts. “Restrain him!”

The burning is getting worse and she looks down. She doesn’t understand how this much blood can come from her.

She looks for Kylo but her vision is getting blurry and her elbows are getting weak. She plops back on the ground and hears screams of panic and struggle, along with terrifying roars coming from Kylo.

“No! No, wait… please, Kylo!” She hears Snoke plea. The scream that echoes through the air is silenced by an awful noise of a body being destroyed.

She tries to get up and go to him, but she can’t.

_Kylo…_

A hand touches her wrist and she feels strong arms cradle her head and her body. Sweet, desperate yellow eyes look at her.

She smiles, relieved to see him. Kylo is covered in blue blood but she figures it’s not his because he quickly lifts her up and takes her to their car.

Gently placing her on the passenger seat, he grabs the bacta they brought and covers her wound with it.

His hands shake and he’s crying. Once he’s done, he gets in the driver seat and hastily turns the car around.

He drives as the tears run down his cheeks, his face twisted in desperation.

She can’t have that.

“Kylo… please, pull over.”

“We have to get you back—“

“Please…” her voice is so small. “Please, Kylo…”

He growls and punches the wheel several times but hits the brakes, stopping in the middle of the empty road.

She smiles and reaches out to him, and Kylo carefully takes her back in his arms.

“There… now, that’s better.”

“Rey…” His voice quivers.

“It’s going to be okay, Kylo. You’re free now. Free from him.”

“Rey…”

“Tell me again about the house you’re going to build…”

Kylo can’t speak but he tries. “I-I… it’s going to be m-made out of wood. Our room will have a… a desk for me and the kitchen w-will be big enough for us to cook together...”

“Sounds so lovely, Kylo…”

“Rey…” Her name comes out strained through his tears.

“It’s going to be so great…”

“No… please...” Kylo mumbles.

She wants to ask him to keep talking, but she chokes. She sees his beautiful face twist in desperation and he weeps, looking around as if someone could help them.

But Rey is happy. Because, at least he won’t get hurt anymore.

She feels like she’s falling and she tries to hold onto him, but her strength abandons her completely. Kylo holds onto her tighter, brushing her cheeks and sobbing.

A sudden bright light surrounds them, blinding her vision. Rey squints her eyes reflexively but when she focuses again, she sees Kylo’s face in pure astonishment.

The last thing she witnesses before she loses consciousness is the car starting to shake.

***

Rey wants to open her eyes but her eyelids won’t cooperate. She moves a little, feeling her limbs respond slowly at her command.

She hears a small gasp and feels the familiar touch of his hand on her skin.

“Rey?” Kylo’s voice sounds different, less sad.

She finally opens her eyes and sees him, smiling at her.

He leans forward to kiss her, but then retreats, so as to give her more space.

The first thought that comes to her groggy brain is how handsome he looks. He’s wearing strange, sleek clothes and his hair is shiny. She wants to touch it.

The second thought is more sensorial. She’s surrounded by bright lights and smooth surfaces. She groans and rubs her eyes.

Suddenly remembering what happened, Rey gasps and pats her abdomen, looking for the wound. But when she manages to reach into the strange clothes that also cover her, she finds only perfect skin.

Kylo’s chuckle makes her look at him. He helps her sit up and she gapes at him and at her surroundings, trying to take it all in.

“It was my turn to take care of you.” Kylo softly says, his smile always present, making his boyish features stand out.

“What happened?”

His face becomes a little pained, but he erases it with a deep, contented sigh.

“They found us...” his eyes are welling up.

“What? Who?”

“It worked, Rey…” He leans towards her, holding her to his chest. A smile blooms on her face, even if she’s still confused. Kylo cradles both of her cheeks and kisses her.

She gently parts the kiss.

“What worked, Kylo?”

“My letters… the letters we sent.”

Rey gasps as she finally understands. She looks behind her and sees the deep darkness of space speckled with shining dots through a window. Her jaw falls open and she can’t breathe.

“Kylo!” She scrambles for his hand, trying to take it all in.

Kylo brushes her cheeks and then lets her go, stepping aside to show her.

Rey gasps once more and hides behind Kylo when she sees them: aliens, older and younger ones along with some humans. Some of the humans are wearing the orange bird with the tapered wings, symbol of the Resistance.

One of the aliens - an older woman - takes a step forward and smiles fondly at her.

Rey stares at her, clutching Kylo’s arm until he chuckles. “My family, Rey, they found us,” Kylo says. “We’re going home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> Feedback and comments are appreciated!
> 
> You may find me on Twitter [@ceciliasheplin](https://twitter.com/ceciliasheplin) if you want to say hi.
> 
> 🏚👽💚


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